Does Anyone Understand : One Shot
by Afleurdelis
Summary: When Kurama's human mother Shiori becomes ill again, she is rushed to the hospital. She needs all of the help she can get, and so does Kurama. He is taken over by fear when he knows he needs to be brave. How will Kurama fnd the strength he needs?


After that morning, nothing seemed to be going well for the Minamino family. It was a Saturday near the middle of spring for Japan. The air was nice and cool, and the atmosphere seemed plesant and welcoming. Yet, the cool air and the bliss that the cherry blossom petals drifting in the wind gave was decieving.

What seemed like a normal spring day turned out to be a nightmare for Kurama. He did notice that lately his mother Shiori had been acting strange. She seemed to be slower than she normally had, and her voice had seemed a little wraspy. Shuiichi remembered speaking to Yusuke, who tried to assure him that there was nothing seriously wrong with his mother, and that she just had a common cold which normally goes around. This comforted Kurama slightly, but it did not drive his fear away completely. He had still been afraid for his mother, and with good reason.

That morning, Shiori had a hard time breathing. That was when Kurama had called the ambulance. Shiori tried to assure her son it was unneeded and that she was fine. She sat on a chair in the kitchen to rest when she passed out moment later. It was lucky he did, for the medics arrived at their house only a minute. A minute that seemed like an eternity.

Shiori was rushed to the hospital, with no one quite sure what was wrong with her. Kurama had been left to wait inside the hospital, worrying about his mother. By the minute he was growing more and more anxious, fear of his mother's death clear in his mind. He needed to calm himself, but he didn't seem to drive away his fear. It was like the last time she had been in the hospital. He continuously told himself in his mind to ease up, but it wasn't getting him anywhere. He needed to relax. Walking, he knew, was one way to calm the mind. He had nothing else to do in the hospital, and so he made his walk.

He turned down a hall where few other people walked passed him. He noticed and old couple, the male on a walker, walking passed him. He glanced at the room they were walking out of and saw a small boy no older than six laying in a bed. The room looked like it had been occupied by this boy for a long time, and Kurama made sense in his mind that this hall was most likely for the pernament guests that could not leave the hospital.

He continued to walk down the hall, gancing into the rooms that were left open. Most of the doors were closed, and of the few left open the occupants seemed to be sleeping or near it, even though they had company. He turned the corner of the hallway, and noticed a preteen girl dressed in patient clothes walking out of a room and closing the door behind her. She was the first patient he had see awake.

Kurama truely didn't care what she had been doing in that room or why she was there. He had never met this girl nor seen her before. He wasn't even curious as to why anyone else was there. All he cared about was his mother getting better. But at the same time, he knew he had to relax. And so, he spoke to this girl.

"What are you here for?" he asked her as he took a few steps closer to her. She didn't move every far from the door, and up close he noticed more things about her. She looked extremely pale and thin, which made him suspect that she had some sort of eating disorder. Her hair was thin too, but it had been long and curly and looked like it could use a wash. She also looked like she hadn't been outside very often, as her skin was unbruised from even small scars.

Reguardless, she smiled. "Two reasons, actually," was what she said.

"What are they?" he asked. She took a deep breath.

"Well, I'm allergic to many things," she said. "Most foods for one thing, and sunlight too. I need to eat special food so I don't get sick, and I can't go outside in the daylight. I need to stay here, also because of malnutrition." Kurama nodded, showing that he had understood what she had said. He couldn't connect with her problems, and he could not understand what she was feeling. He couldn't feel sorry for her, but he did admit that she had it pretty bad herself. Yet, she said it as if it was regular, and that she was just like others who had no allergies or other health problems, and she was alright with the way her life was. She accepted it.

"And the other thing is that my mother came down with lung cancer, and is staying at this hospital as well," she said. Her voice had a sadder tone to it, and she looked scared. "They don't know if she'll make it or not." She paused. "Why are you here?"

"My mother is sick as well," he answered her. His smile fadded as he spoke. He now grew even more worried about his mother. He feared that she would be in the hospital for a long period of time, like other patients in the hospital, and may not make it out alive.

"What's your name?" The girl asked.

"Shuiichi," Kurama answered her.

"Oh, I'm Sakura," she added. "I wouldn't worry too much about your mother, Shuiichi." Kurama looked at her.

"And why is that?" he asked her calmly.

"Is your mother strong?" Sakura asked him. He thought it was odd to answer a question with another question, but he did not complain.

Kurama thought about this for a moment. His mother was not strong like Yusuke, but her heart was strong and loving. And so he answered, "Yes."

"Then she's going to make it, like my mother is. My mother is a strong woman, and she's been there for me for fifteen years," she said. Kurama was a bit surprised to find out her age, as she looked more like eleven. But then he noticed that most eleven year olds don't get acne yet. "She has a good heart, and she doesn't give up easily. I know she's going to make it." Kurama smiled.

"And so is my mother," he added.

"I'm going to go visit my mother now. Goodbye, Shuiichi," she said, and she turned to go down the hall in the direction he had been heading in previously.

"Goodbye, Sakura," he said, and he turned to go the other way where he had come from. His talk with the girl had cheered him up. There was someone he could relate to who had been scared for their mother's life, and he admitted that the girl's mother was most likely in a harsher condition that his mother as she was fighting cancer, but still her daughter was brave for her. And right now, that was what his mother needed too.

He glanced from the window of the room that his mother was in, and he smiled at her even though she could not see. "You're going to be alright mother. I know you will."


End file.
